It seems the trend for tile lately is a larger scale with a very contemporary style, but what happens when a homeowner wants something truly unique, something with that extra little bit of personality, a piece where the homeowner could speak directly to the artist and know where their tile came from? Flying Tigress is how Statements answered these questions. Flying Tigress is the brain child of Bend Oregon resident Jacqueline Caudell.

Jacqueline has been part of the tile industry officially for almost a decade but has run Flying Tigress for about 6 years. Before she became a business owner she made ceramic giftware but was designing and making her own tile on the weekends. She then quit her giftware job sold her car and used the money for capitol to buy a kiln and began working out of her garage in order to gain practice, design creation and building a clientele. During this period, Jacqueline took a full time job as a tile showroom designer and estimator. Jacqueline credits a great deal of her sales knowledge to her showroom position, “…I learned so much about selling and specifying tile from that experience. That was over 2 years ago while I was still building up my business and getting into a studio space and gaining employees.” It has been two years since Jacqueline quit her showroom job and she has never looked back due to the fact her own business has been taking off ever since.

When seeing Jacqueline’s tiles it is evident where she gets her inspiration. Jacqueline is a product of the northwest; she grew up along the Deschutes River with a number of animals and nature all around, it is this connection with the earth she still holds close to her heart and uses for inspiration. She also finds a great deal of inspiration from, “…books, or a backdrop of a movie. My eyes are always scanning for design and color. I have hundreds of pages of designs yet to be born.” It is her love of colors and her always inspiring eye that makes her tiles so special. Jacqueline’s inspiration probably has a great deal to do with her clients. Through Flying Tigress she has found her favorite part and love of designing tile is adding new designs to surprise and inspire her clients providing them with fun materials to work with.

Since Flying Tigress’s start, 6 years ago, Jacqueline says it is hard to see how the tile industry has changed since she herself has changed so much. Although, Jacqueline finds it hard to judge, company has grown by leaps and bounds within the industry. Jacqueline is still the artist and designer of Flying Tigress but she now has, “…four very talented artist and craftswomen working for me that will hopefully get to have input on design as we grow.” Her studio is no longer in her garage but is now a 3000 square foot industrial space which she moved into nearly 4 years ago.  Jacqueline’s family also occasionally gets involved. Her dad is a hay farmer in Oregon but in the winter, when he has some spare time he comes in and helps Jacqueline. Jacqueline says the best thing about all her growth is the experience, income, and creativity expansion which comes with any upward business growth, she enjoys being able to, “…provide a fun and healthy atmosphere for my employees to grow within.” However growth also brings some challenges and to Jacqueline and the Flying Tigress crew that means dealing with problem solving and managing the growth both with the product and the careful training of employees since Flying Tigress is such an intricate and challenging product to make.

The feeling Jacqueline wants for each piece, “…is for them to feel special. We all work SO hard on each and every piece, so they are definitely a conscious and human effort that has lots of human touch put into them. I want them to feel unlike any other and completely unique with a wide open capacity for creativity by both the designer and the observer.” Jacqueline speaking about her tiles as people shows how much care goes into each piece. She hopes this is felt when installing each tile and not just seeing each tile as just a backsplash or something pretty for behind the stove but instead a piece of art which someone put their heart and sole into, she wants the buyer to know each piece was made especially for that space. Jacqueline does not limit her tiles to just the northwest she would like to see them all over the world. “We have so many designs and color possibilities that it can fit into almost any scheme.” It is this versatility which will keep Flying Tigress soaring over other handmade lines for years to come.